Work from home mom's - what's your job?

gollygeeitsamy · March 2015

Those of you who have a job but you work at home instead of an office, what do you do? How'd you find your job? Do you have a degree? Tell me everything! Lol

I currently work in an office, taught school for a few years, but would love to find something where I could stay home with baby but still make an income for financial needs. I don't really like the job I currently hold and I'm interested in finding out more about working from home.

Any help on this would be fantastic and greatly appreciated.

Mufflerlove · March 2015

I live in Ontario Canada and I'm a court transcriptionist. Took a 12 week 3 hour/week course after my hair dresser told me about it. Nothing to do with my degree lol but I get to SAH with my DD and work a bit once she's in bed. It works okay. Pays for groceries.

v1wwo · March 2015

I'm a wedding photographer. So yes weddings are a full weekend thing but most of the work is behind the scenes working on editing and marketing and clients and blah blah blah. I will slow down for a year or two but I took a editing job from one of my fellow photographer.
I also paint and making a kids book.
So I got a BFA in painting

vjlanier · March 2015

Thanks for asking this question! I too would love to be able to stay at home with my now 16 month old and new one on the way but financially can't afford to. I need something to do at home to earn some money to help out.

simpysimps87 · March 2015

I am with you! I'd really love to find something I can do at home, so I can stay with the baby but still make enough money. I hope this gets more responses! Thanks for asking!

missliz53 · March 2015

This would be my ideal situation too once the baby gets older. Then I could be home when school is out and not have to worry about missing work because of a sick kid.

kehags · March 2015

I'm in the middle of building my doula business. Right now, I'm just finishing up my certification, and will probably take a few classes on placenta encapsulation & whatever else is available in the local birth community. I don't think I will be able to actually practice until this LO is around 6 months or so though

JenLovesDesign · March 2015

I'm an interior designer. I started my company about a year ago after working for architecture firms for 15 years. I'm certified and have a degree.

I can definitely recommend starting your own business. There are a lot of resources out there to help you figure it all out before the babies come along. Some cool businesses people in my entrepreneur groups have started are chocolates, repurposing furniture, sewing baby clothes, doggie biscuits etc. they sell them at flea markets, etsy etc.

mrscate88 · March 2015

I work for a small finance company as their admin manager. I work full time from my home office. I basically handle all the customer service (virtual), payment processing, data entry, marketing etc. They publish financial advice for suscribers and I just manage all the administrative stuff.

It's a big commitment working full time from home, you have to have the mindset that you are at work so that you don't get distracted with personal errands and the house and cooking and laundry etc. I do get to set my own schedule but I work every day, and most holidays. If I don't, the work piles up and gets overwhelming. I am currently training a back up girl for my 4-week maternity leave. But it's a small company and I can't take more than a month off.

I will admit that my boss is worried about me managing things with a baby, so who knows what the future holds. Working from home sounds ideal with a baby, but it really depends on the job, because it will most likely be hard to juggle. I have part-time childcare in place so that will allow me time to focus on work a little more. It would be too hard to balance a newborn, breastfeeding, sleepless nights, and then rocking a crying baby while trying to deal with phone calls and emails etc.

I found the job through a friend, she was working for this company and looking for a replacement because she was burned out. She trained me for a few weeks and that was that. I've been doing it for 5 years now and balancing it with school and side jobs.

I wouldn't recommend jumping into a "telecommute" job from Craigslist or anything like that, I would put the word out through friends and family and let them know what you're looking for and hopefully someone in your network will have some work.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Good luck!!

jenboston22 · March 2015

I work as a freelance email marketer. I started off advertising myself at oDesk and Elance; now in addition to these sites, I have my own website. It was very difficult at first to build up a reputation and find clients, but it became easier, and I now make a pretty decent living (I generally charge $50/hour, sometimes less for long-term clients, sometimes more for rush work or for work during very busy periods; I started out at slightly over $20/hour). The best thing about it is the flexibility and the non-9-5 aspect. It is also generally possible to choose how much to work, which is very helpful when starting a family!

nickc2cute · March 2015

I'm a corporate recruiter. Most of my colleagues have a degree but I don't. I have about 10 years of experience.

I have a lot of flexibility but a lot of times it's more demanding than if I worked in an office because we are expected to work on weekend and late nights some times.

I would suggest looking on careerbuilder and typing in virtual as the keyword.

Would a virtual teaching job interest you?

oldiebutgoodie80 · March 2015

I am a teacher at an online private school. It can be stressful and overwhelming at times, but I am hoping to cut back on my course load once baby comes.

LouLouLove · March 2015

AmyW1112 said:
I am a teacher at an online private school. It can be stressful and overwhelming at times, but I am hoping to cut back on my course load once baby comes.

I'm curious how this compares to teaching in the classroom? Can you choose to only teach a few classes, or is it structured more like a traditional teaching job? Also, do you have set numbers of students per class or do they pile them in? Sorry to pepper you with questions, I have just been wondering about this recently. I love teaching and worry I would miss it, but it's so hard to balance teaching, planning, and grading (I teach high school English) with one kid, I'm a little nervous about doing it with two!

jessababyphoto · March 2015

I'm a newborn photographer. I have a studio outside of my home and one inside of my home as well

oldiebutgoodie80 · March 2015

@LouLouLove I was honestly surprised by the intensity! I work twelve hour days, most days. But now I work from my couch in yoga pants!

I think it all depends on the company/organization you work for. My current position is very different from the traditional classroom. I teach 165 students who are enrolled in a variety of different courses. So I teach everything from British Literature to History of the Holocaust. Its crazy, but I really do enjoy it! I spent ten years in a traditional classroom, and I don't miss it for a moment!

I do, however, have control over my student load. So, come August, I am going to request a much smaller load.

There are lots of opportunities out there for educators, though. I just spent a lot of time searching work-at-home jobs for educators.

etayislove · March 2015

I own my own business as a farrier (I.e. horse hoof trimmer). A rather specialized type of job, yes, but it's nice to pick my own hours and only get a sitter when my husband isn't home to watch DS. My training was only three months long at a farrier school about 10 years ago, but one of the downfalls is the fact that it's such physically demanding job and once I go on maternity (in about a month give or take) I have to let my clients fend for themselves with other farriers.

LouLouLove · March 2015

@AmyW1112 that does sound intense! That's a lot of preps to keep up with! The yoga pants on the couch part does sound nice.

inlovewithmylife · March 2015

I work in change management for a Fortune 500 company, no degree. Pretty much any corporate job that doesn't involve on-site duties can be done telecommuting these days. Not every company likes to do that, though. If you wanted corporate, I would look into the company's feelings on it, and mention in interview that that is a condition you have (once training is complete).

That said, I agree with PP, it's not easy, and it isn't for everyone. You have to have a very high work ethic, and you really can't perform any kind of child care or other chores during the work day. In fact, most places expressly forbid that in their remote work policies. Jobs best suited to it are ones where you have set deliverables that can be tracked and measured, like finance, analyst, reporting jobs, or even sometimes tech support (provided there is no background noise).

Fredcin1018 · March 2015

Hi,
I was talking to one of my friends the other day about the same concern. I'm currently a massage therapist residing in New York I love what I do helping people ease pain and help with their recovery.
But I don't think I could do this to far into my pregnancy. I have a degree in English Language Arts and Psychology.
Going back and forth with what to do for income and staying at home.
We came up with tutoring children after school as well as baby sitting a couple of kids and make it a learning center. I'll be teaching a small group of children as well as my own.

Childcare is needed everywhere I know in NY average per child is about 200-300 a week if I baby sit two that's averaging 400-600 dollars a week which can pay for groceries and some bills.

melewen · March 2015

I freelance as a web designer, digital marketing consultant, and photographer. I have a blog i monetize and do well with and the blog has led to working with some pretty major food companies so it's all sort of a big circle! I have a business partner with whom I work on a digital agency--I'm the creative director but mostly do the design work. I also consult on crowdsourcing projects. Lots of parts to make it work! I'd love to talk to you about it if you're interested--the whole process and all that

snikai · March 2015

I don't work from home (yet..hopefully), but I have a friend who was is a medical transcriptonist and works from home and she has minimal training. I just graduated with a master's in counseling and theres a chance that my profession will begin to offer more telecommunication services to clients in the future, but its still controversial for now mostly due to confidentiality concerns. I could potentially have a home office at some point, but I'm not sure how I feel about that at this point.

Drey329 · March 2015

I'm a school counselor. I know, working from home, what?? I have my masters in school counseling and was super lucky to get hired at an independent study charter school. Basically a school structure for homeschooled children. I do go in to the admin office and the learning centers once a week or so but it's super flexible and it's the only job I would consider keeping with a newborn! I'm so glad I have it!

mrscate88 · March 2015

Awesome @Drey329 What a great job! I've always wanted to get into that field and work with teenagers in education, maybe I'll go back to school and get to work on my degree after baby!!

Drey329 · March 2015

You totally should @mrscaterosales !!! Even just the process of getting the degree taught me so much about myself and gave me tons of tricks that I know will help with motherhood!

Drey329 · March 2015

Specifically for @gollygeeitsamy and all the educators in the discussion, schools like mine (independent study charters) are very often partial stay at home jobs! You still get to teach if you want and handle a small caseload of kids but the majority of the week you will work from home. At least that's how it is with my school and many similar ones in the San Diego area. Our teachers can request the classes they want to physically teach twice a week (if any) and they have to meet with students and parents once a month and do a staff meeting once a month. The rest is from home. Because it's homeschooled, the family priority is totally understood and people bring their babies to the staff meetings all the time, where there is free childcare. Something to look into!

stephaniewahne · March 2015

I am an independent presenter for Younique (I sell the best makeup) and I do that from home. I also have a medical sales position that is home based. I am definitely blessed to have both these jobs. Younique is a blast and medical is rewarding.

jyoga87 · March 2015

I'm doctoral candidate in psychology so I work on my dissertation research from home. I also perform neuropsychological assessments, which entails structured testing with clients and then report writing from home. I will graduate in 2016 and plan on building my private practice that is focused on assessment and perhaps do part time therapy work in an office setting as psychologist.

mrscate88 · March 2015

Drey329 said:
You totally should @mrscaterosales !!! Even just the process of getting the degree taught me so much about myself and gave me tons of tricks that I know will help with motherhood!

I'm sure it will, I got my business degree but even that taught me so much about life and psychology and communication. I love school. I'll definitely go back after I get into a routine with my new baby!

mrscate88 · March 2015

@Drey329 I'm also in San Diego! I'll be looking into this more because it is exactly what I've always wanted to do!

babyplut · March 2015

After baby is born and a few months old I am planning on taking in either before and after school children or 1-2 full time children for a day home. Preferably before and after school so I have the days to relax one on one with baby and have a couple older children around. Good luck hope you find something that fits!

schmidep · March 2015

i work for a cell phone company for business accounts and i work from home but i have to send my daugther to daycare i can't work from home and have her at home. This baby will also have to go to daycare. it is nice working from home becuase you can do laundry and get dinner ready during your breaks.

lindseysearle · March 2015

I work as a credit consultant from home. So pretty much I find out why people are having trouble getting approved for things and send them to the right people to help them out. The salespeople that sign people up for one of the credit repair companies is pretty much the same people I work for (in the same building, a lot of people overlap or switch jobs between them etc) and my husbands a manager there, that's how I found out about the job. I'm only working part time I'm finishing my degree in communications right now. I don't think I can work full time doing what I'm doing at this job mentally haha but when I graduate I want to train to be a manager. I don't know what I'll do after the baby is born! My job is fine and easy but it's strict hours which I don't love but hey what can you do

My husband works full time and will be in school starting next spring and he wants me to work at least part time but I don't want to unless we can work it out with our schedules so one of us is home and available, I want to avoid sending baby somewhere for the day if I can. Especially if I'm only working part time not making a ton of money anyway.

Drey329 · March 2015

Awesome!! Definitely go to USD, their program is great! @mrscaterosales

mrscate88 · March 2015

@Drey329 I sent you a private message if you don't mind my picking your brain a little for some suggestions with my schooling :-) Thanks!!!

excited2bmommy09 · March 2015

@melewen your job sounds great! Challenging and yet still creative. Sounds like the ideal way to bring passion and a paycheck together!

shelbydd · March 2015

I'm just sahw now but I worked from home for 3 years as a customer service rep. It was basically at home call center. If you're really interested in working from home I recommend the forums at wahm.com They're constantly posting new at home job prospects.

monicaP · March 2015

Wow! This is such an informative board. With 2 kids under 5 and another on the way, I can't afford to work and love being at home but financially we could use a bit more income. I have been teaching preschool enrichment classes at the local Y part-time and love that I can bring my children with me. I have also started working from home for a young start-up company that offers after school STEM classes, scheduling and recruiting, but very part-time and possibly temporary. I can't wait to look into some of the options mentioned!

mingoad · March 2015

I sort of work from home. I sell Pure Romance so other than doing a party for a few hours it's all at home. Also people will do catalog parties which involves me sitting on my couch entering in orders. It pays well. I generally make 500-1000 a party and can book however many parties a month I need. And I completely make my own schedule. This is great with s newborn/infant.

sonjapuppy · March 2015

I'm a veterinary technologist and also a beauty consultant with Mary Kay.

LeeAnn326 · March 2015

I couple of years ago I started working for a Church that allowed for a flexible work schedule, the down side being that I have some required evening and weekend hours. This ended up being ideal for starting a family because I could be with the baby at home and essentially work from home during the day, while my husband and mom are available to be with the baby when I have to go to work at night or during the weekends.

I used to be a teacher with a Masters in Education and a Certification in Special Education, and the decision to transition from the public school to a Catholic school was worth the pay cut, especially since it lead me to a job I absolutely love while allowing me to be with my family!

bouncypigeon · March 2015

I am an oil painter but wanted something more baby friendly since i knew I wanted to be at home with my kid/s once I had them. So I started an Etsy business making baby mobiles of all things.

it took about 2 months of working hard before I started making enough to pay the bills but it's worked out great as now I have something flexible and fun that I can do at home.

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